The Origin and Consequence of Sin

Part 8

GOD’S JUDGMENT UPON THE MAN 3:17-19

3:17 And to Adam he said, Because you listened to the voice of your wife, and you ate from the tree which I commanded you, saying, Do not eat from it, cursed is the ground on your account; in pain you will eat from it all the days of your life.

Like the woman, the man was judged but not cursed. Adam was judged last because he sinned last.  And, also like Eve, Adam will find that his role and task have been made much more difficult.

Because the man obeyed the voice of his wife rather than the voice of God, the ground is cursed.

The creation mandate will be very difficult to fulfill. It will be carried out in pain making his work toilsome and hard.

The universe’s continuous cycle of birth, growth, death and decay demonstrates this consequence of man’s sin.

3:18 Thorns and thistles it will sprout for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

The terms “thorns and thistles” when used together are a sign of judgment as seen in Hosea 10:8 The high places of wickedness will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" and to the hills, "Fall on us!“

The next time you are out in your yard or garden pulling weeds of every kind that are spreading like gangrene, remember that it is the consequence of the Fall of man. And also remind yourself that weeds are like sin; if you don’t uproot them they will spread until the whole yard or garden is destroyed.

3:19 By the sweat of your face you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

Once again the judgment is related to the offense. Man had been given dominion over creation when Adam and Eve were first formed. But now the ground claims victory—it brings mankind into subjection to his natural environment.

Man will not gain eternal life on the earth, but he must go back to the dust from which he was formed.

Psalm 103:13-14 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.

Ecclesiastes 3:20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

It is important to observe that work itself is not the “curse” in this in this passage.

The main problem is that man will not be as successful in his work as he was prior to the Fall.

Many today, both in and out of the church, act as if work was the curse.

Christians are not to view work that way, but we are to bring all things, from vocation to vacation, under the lordship of Christ. We are to work diligently, with honesty and integrity, for the glory of God.

THE RENAMING OF THE WOMAN

3:20 And the man called the name of his wife Eve because she was the mother of all human life.

Adam now names the woman using a very specific characteristic of her being—she will be the mother of all human life.

The renaming of Adam’s wife revealed two things:

1. It indicated Adam’s faith in God’s promises, not only that they would have children but also that through this means God would send the “Seed of the woman” to crush the head of the serpent with the hope of restoring paradise.

2. The naming of the woman may also be an attempt by the man to reassert his spiritual headship in his relationship with his wife.

Adam would have had every reason for naming his wife “death”. He had blamed her for his own sin and, in the light of God’s judgments, he could well have expressed his frustration by associating with her the sentence of death.

God promised the first couple children and told them that from such life there would come victory over the tempter.

GOD PROVIDES A COVERING

3:21 And Yahweh God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin, and He clothed them.

It was God who came after the fallen first couple and called out to them. And after confronting them with their sin and dispensing their punishment, He made for them garments of skin and clothed them.

This is how it is with sinful man. No man seeks after God; all have turned away and become useless (Romans 3:11).

If sinful man is to be saved, God must go to him out of unmerited kindness and clothe him in His righteousness alone which comes by way of the sacrificial death of His Son (the Seed of the woman).

For human beings to approach God, it was necessary to have clothes provided and approved by Him.

God used the skins of dead animals to cover human guilt and shame. It showed how easy-going and cheap were the human efforts to deal with sin and how thorough and costly was God’s way.

The first couple learned, in type, that an “atonement” (or “covering”) could only be provided by God and through the shedding of blood.

All attempts at putting ourselves right before God are useless. We cannot cover up our sin by man-made efforts. Only God can properly clothe the guilty sinner.